Drying apparatus



Jan. 7, 1936. L, MAR IN 2,026,992

DRYING APPARATUS Filed July 1, 1932 IWQAZQQ'H L.Martin INVLNTQ A -rogrux zs Patented Jan. 7, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE name APPARATUS Application July 1, 1932, Serial No. 620,355

7 Claims.

In the drawing accompanying this specification, and forming a part of this application, I have shown, for purposes of illustration, one form which my invention may assume, and in this drawing:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of an embodiment of the invention, showing one characteristic operation thereof,

Figure 2 is a similar view showing another characteristic operation thereof,

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a reduced side elevational view of said embodiment, with the head of a subject in position in the apparatus, while Figure 5 is a diagrammatic layout of electrical appliances used in connection with said embodiment.

The embodiment disclosed herein comprises a tubular casing 5 pivo'tally supported by a pedestal having a beaded front edge I, tapering toward the rearand provided with a neck portion for the reception of the housing of a motor 8, secured to the casing 5 by screw bolts 9, and the armature shaft III of the motor 8 extends axially into the casing 5 and is of appreciable length, and has a sleeve l I mounted thereon, threaded along part of its length, as indicated at l2, provided at its forward end with an abutment member l3 having a beveled face I4, held in position by a set screw I5 which extends through the sleeve l2 and against the shaft, and provided at its opposite end with a similar abutment member l6 having a beveled face ll, held in position on the sleeve and shaft by set screw [9, and threaded upon the threaded sleeve Il and between the abutment members l3 and I6 is a centrifugal fan I9 having recesses provided with beveled faces 26 and 2| respectively adapted for engagement with the beveled faces l4 and ll of the abutment members l3 and I6, the fan l9 being adapted to assume a position against either the abutment member l3 or the abutment member l6, as hereinafter referred to.

Disposed within the casing 5 is a dome-shaped terminating at its front end short of the front end of the casing 5, and by reason of its size and configuration cooperates with the casing 5 to define a chamber 24 and passage 25, covered at the forward end of the apparatus by a web 5 of screening 26 secured inposition by suitable fastening elements.

Secured to the forward portion of the shell 22 as by a curled seam 21 is the flange 28 of a domeshaped hood member 29, extending in spaced relation with reference to the shell 22 to define a chamber 36, and a passage 3|, and at the rear having an opening 32, covered by a screen 33, and also having a plurality of transverse arcuate slots, the slot 34 being adaptedto be disposed in closest proximity to the ends of the hairadjacent the neck of a subject treated, extending circumferentially about half way around the hood member, the next slot 35 a somewhat less extent, and the next one 36 a still less extent, while longitudinally extending slots 31 are provided which reach well toward the hair near the forehead of the subject, as best shown in Figure 4, all of the slots being covered by a strip 38 of screen secured to the remote wall of the hood member 29.

A heating coil 39 is disposed within the chamber 24 and suspended from the shell 22 by fasteners 40, and a similar heating coil 4| is disposed in the chamber 36 and secured in position by the fasteners, insulating washers being interposed between the coils and adjacent portions of the shell 22.

As shown in the diagrammatic layout of Figure 5, line wire 42 leads to a movable switch arm 43 adapted to engage either a contact 44 or a contact 45, or contact 46 or 41, and the switch arm 43 is connected by an insulation bar 46 with a similar switch arm 49 leading to the return wire 59 and adapted to engage contacts 5| or 52. Contacts 46 and 41 are both interposed in a conductor 53 leading to a switch 54 through the heating coils 40 and 4! to the return wire 50. The contact 44 is connected to one end of the field winding 55, of the motor 8 by a conductor 56 which also leads to the contact 52, while the opposite end of the field winding 55 is connected to contacts 45 and 5| by a conductor 51.

When it is desired to bring about a suction effect around the outer periphery of the head of a subject inserted into the hood member 29 and discharge through the apertures 34, 35, 36 and 31 onto said subject, the motor 8 is operated in such manner as to rotate its shaft in a clockwise direction, as indicated in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 5 this is efiected by moving the switch arm 33 into engagement with contacts 44 and 46, causing current to flow via the conductor 56 in one direction through the field winding 55 of the motor, thence through conductor 57, contact 5i and switch arm 49 to the return wire 50, completing the circuit through the motor and causing the armature shaft to revolve in a clockwise direction; also energizing the heating coils 40 and H assuming the switch 5t to be closed. Clockwise rotation of the motor shaft l and of the sleeve I causes the fan l9 to assume or maintain its position against the outer abutment member I3, thus positioning said fan within the passage 30, causing indrawal of air partially through the opening 32 and partially from the chamber 2 3 and passage 25, the air thus indrawn being thrown off centrifugally into the passage 3i and discharging into the hood member 29 through the apertures 34, 35, 36 and 31, and by reason of the low pressure area at the entrance to the passage 25, a substantial portion of the air discharged into the hood member 29 is entrained and carried into the passage 25 and recirculated.

The direction of rotation of the armature shaft HJ may be reversed by moving the switch arm 43 into engagement with the contacts 45 and 47 and the switch arm 49 into engagement with the contact 52, causing current to flow in a reverse direction through the field winding '55, the circuit being completed through the conductor 56, contact 52, switch arm 49 and line Wire 5?).

Reverse rotation of the shaft i0 causes the fan I9 to travel rearwardly along the thread l2 until it comes into contact with the abutment member iii, being then disposed in the chamber 25 and rotating in a counterclockwise direction. Under these conditions, as shown by the arrows in Figure 2, air is drawn into the passage 3i through the apertures 34, 35, 36 and 37 and also drawn inwardly through the aperture 32, passing through the aperture 23 into the chamber 24 and being discharged into the passage 25 emerging from said passage at the front of the casing, and by reason of the low pressure existing within the hood member 29 a substantial portion of the air discharged from the passage 25 is entrained and again enters the hood member 29 and is recirculated.

The direction of flow of the air thus may be reversed, among other advantages enabling the outlet and inlet areas of the apparatus to be reversed; furthermore by reason of the location and differential sizes of the apertures 34, 35, 36 and 31, the flow is concentrated where the hair of the subject is most difiicult to dry, greatly facilitating the drying operation.

It will be apparent that the embodiment herein described accomplishes the principal object of the invention, and is adapted for uses and purposes not herein particularly referred to, and may he variously changed and modified without departing from the spirit of my invention, and accordingly it will be understood that such embodiment is illustrative only and my invention is not li3n= ited thereto.

I claim:

1. Apparatus, as of the type described, for subjecting a person to the action of a stream of gaseous-like fluid, comprising: an open-front housing having a plurality of orifice areas, and means cooperating with said housing and defining a plurality of cooperating passages communicating with said orifice areas; and circulating means within said housing, axially shiftable from pasaceaeee sage to passage, and operable in one passage to induce flow through said passages and orifice areas in one direction, and operable in another passage to induce fiow in the opposite direction through said passages and orifice areas; said 5 housing also comprising means whereby gaseous fluid discharged from one passage is entrained in the stream of gaseous fluid entering the other passage and thus recirculated.

2. Apparatus, as of the type described, for subjecting a person to the action of a stream of gaseous-like fiuid, comprising: a casing having a hood member provided with orifices restricted to portions of said hood member adapted to be disposed adjacent the neck and forehead of a head inserted into said hood member, and varying in size from the larger adjacent the neck portion to the smaller remote from said neck portion; a shell extending between said hood member and therewith defining a first passage communicating with said orifices, and cooperating with said casing to provide a second passage communicating with said first passage and with another orifice area; a motor carried by said casing and having a shaft extending aidally thereunto and provided with a threaded sleeve with spaced abutment members and a centrifugal fan threaded upon said sleeve between said abutment'members, operation of said motor and shaft in one direction causing said fan to operate in said first passage, and operation of said motor and shaft in an opposite direction causing said fan to shift in its position to said second passage and reverse the direction of fiow; means for reversibly controlling said motor.

3. Apparatus, as of the type described, for subjecting a person to the action of a stream of gaseous-like fluid, comprising: an open-front housing having a plurality of orifice areas, and means cooperating with said housing and defining a plurality of cooperating passages communicating with said orifice areas; and a fan axially shiftable from passage to passage, and operable in one passage to induce fiow through said passages and orifice areas in one direction, and Q5 operable in another passage to induce flow in the opposite direction through said passages and orifice areas; and means for reversing the direction of rotation of said fan, whereby said fan is axially shifted from one passage to another.

4. Apparatus, as of the type described, for subjecting a person to the action of a stream of gaseous-like fluid, comprising: an opemiront housing having a plurality of orifice areas, means cooperating with said housing and defining a plu-- rality of cooperating passages communicating with said orifice areas; a centrifugal fan within said housing axially shiftable from passage to passage, and operable in one passage to indravi through certain of said orifice areas an inflowing stream of fluid through one of said passages, and to expel said fluid in an outfiowing stream through another of said passages and certain other of said orifice areas, and operable in another passage to induce fiow of said streams of fluid in the Q5 opposite direction; and driving means for said fan including means for automatically shifting said fan into alignment with one or the other of said passages; said centrifugal fan and said passages cooperating to impress upon one of said streams an annular formation doubled heel: and surrounding the other of said streams.

5. Apparatus, as of the type described, subjecting a person to the action of a stream of gaseous-like fluid, comprising: an open-front I housing having a plurality of orifice areas, and means cooperating with said housing and defining a plurality of cooperating passages communicating with said orifice areas; and circulating means within said housing, automatically bodily shiftable from passage to passage, and operable in one passage to induce flow through said passages and orifice areas in one direction, and operable in another passage to induce flow in the opposite directionthrough said passages and orifice areas; and power means for driving said circulating means, said'power means comprising means operable to shift said circulating means from passage to passage dependent upon the direction of movement of said circulating means.

6. Apparatus, as of the type described, for subjecting a person to the action of a stream of gaseous-like fluid, comprising; anopen-front housing havinga plurality of orifice areas, and means cooperating with said lrcusing and defining a plurality of cooperating passages com- 4 municating with said orificeareas; a motor having a threaded armature; a fan threaded on said armature, said fan being automatically shiftable from passage to passage by the rotation of said motor, to induce flow through said passages and orifice areas in one direction, and operable in another passage to induce flow in the opposite direction through said passages and orifice areas, dependent upon the direction of the rotation ofsaid motor.

7. Apparatus, as of the type described, for subjecting a person to the action of a stream of gaseous-like fluid, comprising an open front housing having a plurality of orifice areas, means cooperating with said housing and defining a plurality of cooperating passages communicating with said orifice areas; shiftable circulating means adapted to be shifted from passage to passage to induce flow of a gaseous fluid through said passages and orifices in opposite directions, a rotary power means for actuating said circulating means, and means cooperating with and actuated by said powermeans for automatically shifting said circulation means in accordance with the direction of rotation of said power means.

WENDELL L. MARTIN, 

